Arch Gen Psychiat
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Comparative Study
Comparative studies of thought disorders. I. Mania and schizophrenia.
Thought disorder in 20 manic and 43 schizophrenic patients was examined using the Thought Disorder Index. To ensure the inclusion of patients with unambiguous mania and schizophrenia, the patients met Research Diagnostic Criteria, DSM-III criteria, and Washington University (St Louis) criteria. ⋯ The thought disorder of manic patients was extravagantly combinatory, usually with humor, flippancy, and playfulness. The thought disorder of schizophrenic patients appeared disorganized, confused, and ideationally fluid, with many peculiar words and phrases.
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Comparative Study
Comparative studies of thought disorders. II. Schizoaffective disorder.
We examined thought disorder in 22 patients with schizoaffective disorder (12 schizoaffective-manic and ten schizoaffective-depressed) using Research Diagnostic Criteria. The Thought Disorder Index was used to tag 22 categories of thought disorder that ranged from mild to severe. Qualitative patterns in the thought disorder of schizoaffective patients were compared with those of 20 manic and 43 schizophrenic patients. ⋯ The schizoaffective-manic patients, like the schizophrenic patients, produced a high number of responses in the categories of idiosyncratic verbalizations, autistic thinking, and confusion. Unlike the manic patients, schizoaffective-depressed patients generally produced a few absurd and idiosyncratic responses in a setting of constricted output. The data strongly suggest that the thinking disorders of schizoaffective patients are like those of the schizophrenic patients.